Still the Same
by ShannyRawr
Summary: Lucy has come back to Fairy Tail after two long years of being INDEPENDENT! Oneshot. NaLu (which makes it perfect by default). Complete, obviously, but might add another chapter.
1. Chapter 1

**ShannyRawr reporting for duty! So it's been a while, eh? Well, I'm back with another NaLu oneshot sort of thing. But anyway, it's just cute, ne? My mind had kind of poked the idea of a Lucy-homecoming thing, but I just bs'ed the reason _why_ she left in the first place. Sorry. It wasn't well thought out. **

**Still, enjoy. ;D**

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Lucy stood in front of the guild; the place hadn't changed one bit. It was hard to believe she had been gone for two and a half years. Looking back on it, the whole thing was a blur. Yes, she remembered completing what she had set out to do – discover the thirteenth Zodiac key – but other than that and the painful goodbye upon her leaving, it was all jumbled.

Somewhere in the mess of memories, there was so much pain and so much fighting that she was convinced she had simply gone on an S-class mission (without permission as always). Of course, that was not true. She was alone the whole time; no Team Natsu.

Oh, Natsu; that made her smile. She had been itching to see him the entire trip. When she had announced her leaving, she had taken him aside to tell him personally and she was utterly shocked when he got angry. He wouldn't even look at her as she said temporary goodbye's to the rest of the guild.

But he had calmed down enough to see her off with tears in his eyes, waving with Happy beside him. Master had also given her the proper send-off. The whole leaving part of the 'mission' was no doubt the hardest part. But it was worth it to stand in front of her true home, ecstatic and confident in her success.

Taking in a deep, shuddering breath, she pushed open the doors; it revealed chaos. Nope, nothing had changed from the inside either. It was so loud and the crowd was so rambunctious that no one noticed her arrive. Even so, a smile crept on her face as she picked out pink hair in a group of men fighting.

The first second that he was taking a breather, Lucy ran straight towards him and held out her arms. As she leapt onto him and knocked him to the ground, she yelled, "_Natsu!_"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on so tight she was slightly afraid she might break it. At first, Natsu was too stunned to do anything, but then he embraced her tightly back in return.

"Lucy!" he yelled back, but now it was extremely loud because the entire guild hall was silent and watching them. "You finally came back!"

He sat up, still holding her, and she wrapped her legs around his torso, sitting comfortably in his lap. She nodded into his neck, rubbing her soft golden hair against his skin. It wasn't long before she was bawling into his shoulder and Natsu couldn't help but start laughing.

Standing up with Lucy clinging to him, he walked over to a table and sat her down on it. He pulled away to get a good look at his partner. Her hair was longer now. She was slightly taller and a little bit leaner. The sparkle in her eyes still shone brightly however and other than a few details, she was absolutely the same. No doubt, she was as beautiful in his eyes as ever.

"Of course I did! I'm kind of disappointed in myself that it took me so long… but here I am!" Her smile was so bright that it made up for the tears streaming down her cheeks. "And I see you haven't changed much at all." She hinted towards the fighting and chaos.

On the contrary, he had changed. With her lack of presence, he had realized just how much he depended on the celestial wizard before him. Never before, even when Lisanna had been thought dead, had he felt that dark, gnawing pain in his chest. It only took a few weeks for him to finally admit to himself his feelings for her.

"Same ol' me!" he agreed anyway and shot her a toothy grin. It made her eyes glitter even more. "I've been so bored without you! Let's go on a mission!"

"Natsu, she just got back from a long mission herself; don't you think she would enjoy a break?" Erza put in, smiling proudly at the blonde. Lucy let out a squeal and jumped from her position to hug her teammate. The strong hold Erza embraced with was a little overwhelming but made Lucy feel at home.

"Think for once, flame brain," Gray added and Lucy pounced on him, as well. He chuckled and hugged her tightly. "Ah, finally Team Natsu is back in business."

"Yeah, I'm psyched," Lucy said happily and pulled away, stepping backing over to the dragon slayer. Subconsciously, she held onto his arm and leaned against him. From what she remembered, that ticked him off. But at the moment, he was beaming at her. Her smile grew wider. "I have never been so happy in my entire life to be greeted with chaos. That's all I need right now."

"I can do that!" Natsu exclaimed and began to pull away but Lucy held on tighter and glared at him seriously. For a moment he found himself cowering.

"Nope, you're staying right beside me," she said and laughed, perking up again. Natsu grinned and shrugged, stepping back towards her.

"I guess that's okay."

"Everyone, give me some space to get to Lu-chan, please!" Levy yelled, pushing through the big circle of people that had formed around the table she was placed on. The blunette then turned back to her friend and jumped on her, grasping oh-so tightly. It might have even matched Erza's strength.

"Ahh!" Lucy giggled and held the solid script mage in return, pulling away a little while later to smile warmly at her and the rest of the guild surrounding them. "I'm going to go unpack my things; I'll be back here soon, I promise."

Tugging Natsu along, she promptly left the guild hall and headed towards her apartment. Everything was so familiar and comforting; especially the warmth of being so close to her best friend. To be honest, she was hoping to kick it up a notch and she was excited to get the show on the road. But for now, she was just going to enjoy the scenery – this was home.

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**And there you have it - a very climatic story indeed (notice the sarcasm dripping). Still cute. Still R&R. If I'm nice I'll think about another chapter. But for now, use your amazing imagination(s) to figure out the ending. ~Obviously baby NaLus~**

**ShannyRawr, out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi, ShannyRawr here! Another chapter, as mentioned. So, there apparently wasn't a sufficient amount of romance in the last one. I agree with that. The stories I have saved on my computer are about 100x more fluffy than that was. I guess I just wasn't really going for romance-based. But, no worries, here is a make-up for that. I'm just kidding. It's lame, as well. But the ending is romantic. I think. I'm starting to second guess myself now, guys! Oh, well. Enjoy~ **

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"Was it fun?" Natsu asked, leaning back in the chair he was seated in. His eyes tracked Lucy as she fussed around the kitchen, making them dinner. She glanced at him quickly before stirring what was in the pot.

"Was what fun?"

"Your mission! Did you kick tons of butt?" he exclaimed and Happy flew over to sit on the top of the chair next to him. The dragon slayer grinned at the exceed.

"Oh; yeah, sure. I guess it was fun," she replied monotonously and set down the spoon she had been mixing with, turning towards her partner.

"Tell us some stories!"

"Aye!" The two of them watched her expectantly. Lucy sighed and walked over to the table, sitting down on it in front of Natsu and facing him.

"Alright; I suppose I've got some stories." The duo leaned slightly forward, smiling. "A few weeks into my journey, I was spending the night in a cave I found. After I had visited a nearby town, they told me some clues to the thirteenth Zodiac key were in that forest so I went looking. Right as I was about to sleep, a humongous lizard-thing started attacking me. At first I was too surprised to do anything, but I grabbed my whip as soon as I recovered. Somehow I managed to jump on its back and wrap my whip around its neck. So I used it kind of like reins and I led it out of the cave and far away from where I was planning on sleeping. To this day I still don't know how I did it."

"Woah; what else did you do?" Natsu was eagerly sitting forward even more than before. If he shifted anymore he would practically be leaning on Lucy's lap.

"Hm… well, do you remember Hikaro from Grimoire Heart? I met someone who used curse magic like him. He didn't have the exact same doll, but it had the same effect and everything. It was real tough dealing with him; I had to take a few days to heal after that fight. I did tons of other stuff, too. But do you really want to hear about it?"

"Yeah, of course!" he exclaimed and put his chin on her thigh, gazing up at her. She cringed and scooted off the table, going back over to the stove to check on the food.

"It's really not that interesting " she said quietly, smiling sadly staring down at the pasta as she mixed it around the pot. "It wasn't all that enjoyable, either."

"You said it was fun, though," he pouted, standing up and walking over to her. Involuntarily, his heart started beating faster and he found himself getting excited. It was still so unbelievable that she was finally back. A toothy smile ended up on his face before he knew it.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't really mean that," she said dismally, refusing to look up at him. Natsu caught the look in her eyes and gently cupped her chin, forcing her to gaze at him. Her mouth was parted slightly and her chocolate eyes were wide and curious.

Natsu had matured since she had been gone. As improbable as it was, along with realizing his feelings, he had also began to accept what exactly love was. Growing up a bit – and mind you, only a bit – came along with that naturally.

"How do you really feel?"

"Natsu…" she breathed, gazing at him. After a long silence she broke and looked away. "I didn't enjoy it at all; the only great moment was when I finally found the key. It was – well, it was really lonely. I was just missing you guys the whole time."

He took a moment to let it sink in and slowly another big smile made its way onto his face, "Well you're back now and I'm here!" He pulled her into a tight embrace. Suddenly he had the urge to… kiss her. It was impossible to hold back and he pulled away, smashing his lips into hers.

His arms, which were around her back, pressed her closer to him and he found that she began running a hand through his hair; she was kissing back. He had never remembered being more overjoyed. After a long, drawn-out moment of passionate kissing, she pulled back and took in a large breath.

He hadn't realized how much he needed to breathe until he was gulping in the cool air. At this point Lucy was grinning wildly along with him and they both blushed a light pink.

"That's how _I _really feel," Natsu said. He had planned on waiting a little while until he finally told her how he really felt, but his lips had apparently been a little impatient with the process.

"They _llllllike_ each other," Happy added quietly from the chair he was perched on and Lucy jumped slightly, having forgotten the exceed was there. She glared at him and he just smiled back deviously.

After a small cough from Natsu, Lucy looked back at him and smiled warmly, "That's good; I was a little worried that I'd embarrass myself when I tried to confess."

"Confess what?"

She laughed and shook her head slowly, "My feelings for you!"

"Oh," Natsu grinned and leaned his forehead against hers gently. "I don't know what I'd do if you had been gone any longer."

"I think I might have exploded," Lucy chuckled and pressed a soft kiss on his cheek, resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad I'm back."

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**R&R please~ Was that romantic enough? I know the bulk of it wasn't, but forgive me. 3 I guess if you want a purely fluffy chapter I could add that. BUT, only if you want it. Okie, bye! **


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